One Commanders coach was asked an uncomfortable question Thursday.
Uncomfortable, not because it was asked. It needed to be asked. But it was uncomfortable for the coach because it came only two weeks into his first season with Washington. The question was whether the coach was ready to make some personnel changes on the Commanders’ defense.
“That’s always a touchy topic,” said Commanders defensive coordinator Daronte Jones. “You gotta assess why are those mistakes occurring? Maybe it’s just out of that particular game. Maybe there is a communication aspect of it. So, what may appear to be this player’s fault, could be some underlying factors involved. Maybe he’s just playing with someone else, things like that.”
Daronte Jones on threshold for
making personnel changes pic.twitter.com/uV0l3AZaXM
— Mitchell Tischler (@Mitch_Tischler) September 24, 2026
Washington’s starting cornerbacks, Amik Robertson and Mike Sainristil, are being backed up by Rasul Douglas, Fabian Moreau, and now new addition Isaac Yiadom. The Commanders have played zone coverage most of the time because they don’t trust their corners in man coverage. They have also tried a fifth defensive back by using a third safety. Nothing has really shined in the secondary so far.
“So, you gotta first dive into why it’s happening. If it’s become a player like, ‘Hey, this guy is just not doing what we are asking him to do.' Then you have to make a personnel change in that regard. So, that is always a flowing situation, and it can change case by case, person by person, situation by situation.“
So you have got to assess that one game. Do we need to make a change here? Is this guy struggling? Can we help him struggle in one way or another? And if the help doesn’t, then we need to make a personnel change. That’s also part of the evaluation throughout the week and in the game.
It is not out of the realm of possibility that Jones will have Yiadom active this week vs. the Seahawks. The question is: which corner would the Commanders make inactive in Week 3?
This article originally appeared on Commanders Wire: Commanders' DC faces tough question early in his tenure
